CNU men win USA South tournament; women advance to final

Captains hang on for championship before changing leagues

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — — Christopher Newport forward Connor Laframboise may be a freshman, but on Saturday night he became an integral part in continuing the Captains' tournament legacy.

Laframboise scored 21 points off the bench to lead a balanced Captains attack in their 81-74 win over Greensboro in the USA South tournament final at Crown Center Arena.

CNU (21-5) won its second straight conference tournament title and 15th overall, clinching an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The Captains are leaving the USA South and will compete in the Capital Athletic Conference next season.

Greensboro's Luqman Tijani hit a 3-pointer with 3:31 to play to bring the Pride within 69-67, but the Captains wouldn't allow the Pride to get any closer.

Laframboise came off the bench to put in 14 points in the first half and helped Christopher Newport build a 39-26 halftime lead.

"My job is to come in, rebound, play defense and knock down shots," Laframboise said. "My shots fell and it felt great."

Evan Thorpe scored 19 points and Nik Biberaj had 16, along with 12 rebounds. Mike Cherry and Tra Benefield each added 11 for the Captains.

CNU seemed to have the game in hand early, with Thorpe and Laframboise combining for 29 points in the first half. After a Biberaj layup, the Captains were up 59-39 with 11:17 remaining.

Greensboro (18-11), which had won 10 games in a row, stormed back, going on an 18-4 run to close the gap to six. CNU pushed the lead to 10, but the Pride responded with a 10-2 run, making it 69-67 in CNU's favor.

After Donald Anderson hit a pair for Greensboro, back-to-back layups by Biberaj and Cherry finished off the Pride.

CNU coach John Krikorian praised his team for staying strong.

"I'm proud of my guys for battling through adversity to win this tournament," Krikorian said. "We knew that Greensboro is a terrific team and they were going to battle us until the end, but we found a way to hold them off."

Tijani led Greensboro with 19 points.

Three CNU players made the all-tournament team. Biberaj was named MVP, while Thorpe and Laframboise were on the roster.

Christopher Newport came to the USA South tournament in a three-way tie for the regular-season title with Ferrum and Maryville. After defeating the Scots on Saturday, the Captains are one win away from an outright tournament championship.

"It's tough going up against a team like Maryville, then have to play Ferrum the next day," CNU coach Bill Broderick said. "But if you're going to win championships, you have to play against the best."

CNU never trailed, aided by the sharp-shooting Halverson. Halverson scored 20 in the first half, including six 3-pointers. She hit three from beyond the arc to stake the Captains to an early 9-2 lead.

"She has just been in a zone the past few weeks," Broderick said.

The Captains were up by as many as 14 before the Scots (23-4) went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to 29-23 at halftime. Christopher Newport recovered, getting its advantage back up to 11 with 12:48 remaining.

Maryville went on a 7-0 run to apply pressure. A pair of Lauren Burnett free throws with 9:14 to play made the score 43-39, but Halverson hit her seventh 3-pointer on CNU's next possession, preventing the Tennessee team from getting any closer.

"As a senior, you want to give it your all because you don't know when that last game may be," Halverson said. "I wasn't ready to go home."

Junior guard Tia Perry ensured that the Captains would make it to the final. Perry leads the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game, but went just 2-of-8 for eight points. Six of those points, however, came in the last five minutes of the game to prevent the Scots from getting any closer than five.